NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — The Niagara Falls City School District is confronting a case of bullying that one parent worries is a growing problem. The parent asked us not to identify her to protect her grandson, but we confirmed her story.
She told 2 On Your Side, Keelin Berrian that she wants the district to do more to protect students.
Superintendent of Niagara Falls Schools, Mark Laurrie, confirmed the incident happened yesterday, and a 13-year-old student was the target.
The student's guardian called 2 On Your Side Wednesday morning and said her 13-year-old was pantsed in front of the Junior Varsity football team.
Pantsing is when someone yanks another individual's pants down, and kids think of it as a prank or joke. Superintendent Laurrie says, in this case, it's an act of bullying. Laurrie says one student-athlete has been suspended, as well as removed from the JV football team. The district says it plans to file a sexual harassment complaint, which Laurrie says is part of the district's protocol for incidents like this.
"This is a local school procedure we follow when any sexual harassment occurs. It can be deemed one or two pathways, informal or formal. Informal is handled at the school level, with many layers of restitution and remediation, or it can become more formal if the parent wishes. That will be turned over to the police for further investigation. I'm not sure yet which the parent will choose," Laurrie says.
Laurrie says the district takes incidents like this seriously. He and the school issued an apology to the student and parent. Laurrie is aware that bullying happens in his schools and encourages everyone to take the necessary steps to protect students. Laurrie says they have programs encouraging students to come forward if they're getting bullied.
"We always tell students if they're feeling or hearing or receiving bullying they have to go to a trusted adult. We have a trusted adult program in every one of our schools. If the student doesn't have a trusted adult, they can go right to their Administrator, their Principal, their Vice Principal, their Dean of Students and report it. Everything that is reported is acted upon, recorded, investigated, and hopefully stopped," Laurrie says.